Reviews

Charting the rises and falls of the new town model by using Basildon in Essex, one of many towns hastily built to house the many working class people pouring out of bomb damaged and slum-filled parts of large...

This is a strong week for releases, so under no circumstances should you see I Feel Pretty. Its reference points are Just My Luck, Shallow Hal, and The Devil Wears Prada, in that order. It amalgamates set ups...

This film was previously reviewed on 22/06/17 as part of EIFF. From the synopsis, Modern Life is Rubbish could be accused of rehashing High Fidelity, yet it more than justifies its existence. It’s a...

This film was previously reviewed on 01/09/17 as part of Venice Film Festival. Full of wide, near-barren vistas and trying to fit three different films into one, Andrew Haigh’s Lean on Pete has all the...

As we reach the fourth instalment in his now eight-movie deal with Netflix, Adam Sandler’s position in the pantheon of comedic greats has never been more contentious. For every Punch-Drunk Love there’s...

How many positive depictions of motherhood in cinema can you think of? Whether it’s with body horror or performance anxiety, filmmakers over the years have made it very clear that being a mother is no bed of...

Marvel's 2018 slate steps up a gear (or several) with the massive Avengers: Infinity War following February's Black Panther into cinemas. Our Bertie scored Infinity War the full five stars, finding it "a...

A film that courted controversy in South Africa to the point of cast and crew receiving death threats (a situation that only highlights the film’s necessity), Trengove’s The Wound explores a tense...

In his feature film debut, Michael Pearce crosses a romance with a whodunit to create a haunting thriller. Beast seems at first to refer to a mysterious murderer troubling an isolated community in Jersey, but...

Thanos has been waiting a long time, but by Titan it was worth the wait. With notable exceptions, Marvel has a villain problem – no more. Thanos is an imposing menace, ruthlessly efficient yet surprisingly...

Spike Lee’s Pass Over brings Antoinette Nwandu’s play of the same name to the screen, delivering something that’s neither a fresh work nor your run-of-the-mill filmed play. Pass Over begins with shots...

This film was previously reviewed on 03/09/17 as part of Venice Film Festival. Paolo Virzi’s The Leisure Seeker wastes no time getting started. No sooner are we introduced to its world than we are...

This film was previously reviewed on 17/10/17 as part of London Film Festival. Funny Cow is literally Maxine Peake’s show, as she narrates her tough life – and the film – from a later point of success...

Netflix’s latest original movie comes with a disclaimer warning that it contains product placement. With the title being the brand name of a type of Kodak film, and a proud declaration that it was shot on...

A giant gorilla, a super-sized armoured alligator, a flying mega wolf and Dwayne Johnson appear in a film. It’s the beginning of a great joke and therein lies the problem with Rampage. Stuck in attempting to...